by Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

by Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

The first word: Louisiana Tech enjoyed a season decorated with 27 wins, a share of the regular-season conference championship and the team's first ranking in the top 25 poll in more than 28 years.

Yet one accomplishment was clearly missing: the NCAA tournament.

The Bulldogs' promising season derailed in the home stretch. They lost four of their final five games, including a stunning upset to Texas-San Antonio in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament that all but destroyed any storybook endings.

Louisiana Tech enters 2013-14 with the same postseason aspirations, bringing back four starters and 11 players who all saw significant time last season. But the path to the NCAAs certainly won't come as easily, as the Bulldogs begin their first year in a newly restructured Conference USA.

The good news: Louisiana Tech coach Michael White's veteran-laden group is the most talented and polished in the league, making it the favoritel.

Coach's corner: "We had a great year, but we didn't achieve the ultimate goal. With how well the season was going, we could almost taste it. Then the wheels fell off. There's definitely a lot of motivation with these guys after the way things ended. You could see it in their eyes during the spring. That drive will help us. We don't have to revamp everything, we just have to be better in certain scenarios." - White, who enters his third season on the Bulldogs' sideline.

Path to the Dance: Like last season, it'll likely take an automatic bid to get to the tournament, even in a much more well-rounded league, Conference USA. That outlook could change if C-USA teams excel in the non-conference schedule, but the sans-Memphis conference will now be looked at as more of a mid-major conference in the same breath as the Missouri Valley.

Conference outlook: It's not to be forgotten that Southern Mississippi beat Louisiana Tech in the second round of the NIT. Southern Mississippi, last year's runner-up in C-USA, could again be a thorn in the Bulldogs' side as one of the top challengers in the league despite losing two all-conference players. The Golden Eagles return a strong nucleus and their vaunted zone defense is difficult to handle. Charlotte and Texas-El Paso shouldn't be forgotten, nor should Florida International (which lost coach Richard Pitino to Minnesota).

Projected tournament seed: No. 12 seed.

Star watch: Raheem Appleby (14.9 ppg) returns as the only double-digit scorer on one of the deepest teams in the country. He's joined by defensive specialists Kenneth "Speedy" Smith (2013 first-team all-WAC, all-defensive team) and 6-9 shot-blocking forward Michale Kyser (WAC all-defensive team). Appleby is the team's go-to player down the stretch, while Smith is the spark plug at point guard, both defensively as a ballhawk pest and offensively as a penetrating facilitator.

Team strength/weakness: Depth is a sure-fire strength, given that White has an 11-man rotation of players he trusts. That's a luxury very few, if any, teams in the country have. Pressure defense is what makes this team go, leading to turnovers and an up-tempo pace. Last season the Bulldogs rebounded the ball at an extremely high rate, 38.5 a game (good enough for 36th nationally). The team's weaknesses are undoubtedly with shooting percentages (they ranked 276th nationally in field goal percentage), which ultimately cost the Bulldogs near the end of the season. Missing shots, like making shots, can be contagious. So it's vital that players maintain confidence so they're peaking in March, not fading.

X-Factor: The team's bench. White orchestrated one of the deepest teams in the country last season and that shouldn't change this season. White often felt comfortable enough to play his bench/role players more than his starters. That will bode well in Conference USA and is a quintessential ingredient, along with experience (which the Bulldogs possess) for many mid-major teams that shock bigger programs in March.

Basics: Louisiana Tech University is in Ruston, La., and the Bulldogs play their home games at the Thomas Assembly Center, which seats 8,098.